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Turkey Is Asking The United States To Take Part In A Ground Invasion Of Syria

Reuters is reporting that Turkey is asking the United States and other western allies to participate in a massive ground invasion of Syria. But of course the Turks are not exactly sitting around and waiting for their western allies to get on board. Turkey shelled northern Syria for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, even though the Obama administration has been asking them to stop. The targets were Kurdish and Syrian military positions, and the goal appears to be to slow down their advance toward the Turkish border. The Sunni militants that Turkey has been supporting for five years are now being completely routed, and Turkey is in a great deal of panic about this.

I knew that Turkey was trying to round up support for overt military action, but I was stunned when I came across a mainstream news report today that publicly admitted that Turkey is asking the Obama administration to be part of a full-fledged ground invasion of Syria…

Turkey is asking allies including the United States to take part in a joint ground operation in Syria, as a Moscow-backed government advance nears its borders, raising the possibility of direct confrontation between the NATO member and Russia.

“Some countries like us, Saudi Arabia and some other Western European countries have said that a ground operation is necessary,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters in an interview.

However, this kind of action could not be left to regional powers alone. “To expect this only from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar is neither right nor realistic. If such an operation is to take place, it has to be carried out jointly, like the (coalition) air strikes,” he said.

Obviously Turkey would like the United States to take the lead role. A full-blown ground invasion of Syria is a very risky thing, and it could easily spark World War 3.

So even though Turkey is chomping at the bit, they are hesitant to go it alone because they realize what the consequences could be.

The Saudis also seem hesitant to go ahead without the United States. This is what Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters during a news conference in Riyadh…